New, Eagletac P20C2 MkII First impressions

Well, I received my new P20C2 MkII with SMO from PTS (eagletac-usa.com).
(shipping was fast, and they had very responsive and helpful customer service, Thanks guys!!)


First impressions:

1) Very bright overall. Bested my E2DL in the ceiling bounce test by a decent margin.

2) Throw is much much less than the E2DL, but spill is far brighter. No detectable green tint at all. (naked eye)

3) User interface is great! I love how I can deactivate the strobe function! Medium and low mode both have their place, and are very useable. Beacon, and SOS are a nice touch. The UI is such that it would be nearly impossible to accidentally activate the flashing modes. Unless accidentally "solving" rubik's cubes routinely is a problem for you…

4) The included diffuser works great, and could come in handy at times.

5)The build quality seems superb. Threads are silky smooth. Maybe not quite as "sturdy" feeling as the E2DL, but close.

6) Now some problems...(might just be my light)
a) The spot has a very noticeable "dead spot" in the middle. (the area closely surrounding the spot is noticeably brighter than the spot itself. This is rather hideous… I don't know whether all are like this or if I'm the lucky one. Here are two beam shots comparing the E2DL and the P20C2 MkII, taken on an EOS 7D at the same settings… The camera had trouble picking it up, and it is unbelievably more obvious in person, but I think you can get at least an, albeit very small, idea… P.S. the "green tint" is only noticeable with the camera, not at all with your eyes (looks pure white).

P20C2 MkII


E2DL



b) I decided to purchase the optional aluminum tail standing tail. The problem with this is that the button requires at least twice the force to depress compared to the standard button. Additionally, "momentary on" is activated less than 1mm from the click being engaged, causing very frequent accidental clicks (probably going to return this). The standard tail's button has none of these problems.

I'm not sure if I'm going to return this light or not. I don't think that the spot should be noticeably dimmer than the immediate spill. I'm going to have to think about it, and wait until I hear if others are having this issue.

So, let's here some impressions of others that bought this new light…

Cheers,
John

Are you sure it is running turbo mode??

Because the first P20C2 scored 9,000 lux at the spot which is very similar to what the E2DL outputs.

XPG might not throw as well as the older cree, but in the pic I can see a huge difference.

@richardcpf

I'm positive it's in turbo mode. As I said above, it was brighter than the E2DL as per the ceiling bounce test. The 60 or 5 lumen mode would hardly be able to accomplish that feat.

The spill is much bigger and brighter than the E2DL, but the center of the spot is dimmer that the part directly surrounding the spot (as shown in the pictures) I had to play with the settings on the EOS 7D for a while to get the "hole" in the spot to show up in a photo.

gamblore said:

a) The spot has a very noticeable "dead spot" in the middle. (the area closely surrounding the spot is noticeably brighter than the spot itself. This is rather hideous… I don't know whether all are like this or if I'm the lucky one.

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Much the same effect that was apparent on arrival in my R5 Quark Turbos. My Turbos were probably worse than this Eagletac photo indicates and it was very noticeable and distracting at a distance on an open field. Looked like the torch shining a ring of light rather than a hot spot.

I was thinking of an R5 P20C2 and this would put me right off. Not that buying one seems likely now since neither of the two Eagletac sellers I contacted have responded to my messages regarding shipping to Australia.

Yea, it's very distracting. The farther you are from a wall the worse it is (obviously this is to be expected). But even at just a few feet it is very noticeable and distracting. The picture doesn't do it justice. You said it perfectly, "a ring of light rather than a hot spot." As shown in the pictures, the E2DL is brightest in the very center, and gets dimmer from there on out. Unlike the P20C2...
Well, I'm sad to hear that this might be a XP-G R5 issue. I was hoping it was just the P20C2 MkII, or better still, my particular P20C2 MkII...

John

I suspect that it is a problem w/XP-G in these sizes of smooth reflectors, such as the Quark Turbo and the Eagletac mentioned here. Larger lights or lights with less throwy beams don't seem to have this problem.

I think you might be right, but I hope you're wrong. Other than this issue, I love this light!!

Larger lights or lights with less throwy beams don't seem to have this problem.

Click to expand...

Well, the P20C2 MkII isn't really "throwy" at all...


John

Interesting. I have modified a Tiablo MA6 with an R5 XP-G, and I too have a dimmer central spot. Maybe the reflectors used here are all based on the XR-E and the XP-G needs quite a different reflector.
My modified MA6 puts out 14Klux at 1m with a good corona so I am still happy!

HL

This is not an XP-G issue, it is a P20A2 reflector issue. I have a MkI version with XR-E R2 (with the universally loathed strobe UI) and it has the same 'dead' zone in the centre of the hotspot. I believe an OP reflector would help but of course would spoil the throwiness of the light.

P20A2 was my first Eagletac and the hated four second strobe wait and holy beam probably means it will be my last unless Eagletac come up with a way to upgrade the MkI's :scowl:

Olef

I am with Dogbert on this one,

My collection of XPG-R2 lights with smooth reflectors are now at two, a 4sevens Turbo AA2 and EagleTac P20A2 (also 2AA) The Turbo's "dead spot" is more noticeable than the ET light, figure it is the price you pay for throw with smaller reflectors. EagleTac does offer a mild orange peel reflector that should solve that problem.

Used by themselves, both lights seem white to me. Turn them on together and the Turbo shifts ever so slightly green and the ET shifts slightly purple in the spill. Turn one of them off and it shifts back to white. This happens when doing the white wall hunter shots and is not an issue when I use the lights outside.

Maybe optics are the best choice if you want a perfect beam from an XP-G? Surefire and Peak use them and you can mix/match them if buying a Peak. Since I come from the land of L2D Q5 XR-E "Saturn ring beam" stock, both of the new XP-G lights work better for me.

I like several of the Eagletac lights, but will not buy one that has the donut effect in the hotspot. To say the least, I am no longer a fan of smooth reflectors with led lights. I have been burned by ugly beams more than ounce because of SMO reflectors. Like the others have said, a OP reflector should solve the problem. They should always include both OP and SMO reflectors with the lights so the customer can choose. Are you listening Eagletac?

My P20C2 MKII with OP reflector does the same thing. Doesn't bother me though. When I'm actually using it, and not shining it on a WHITE wall, I don't notice it at all. I can use a SMO Mag without noticing artifacts and beam defects though...Because in the end, they all do one thing, provide light...

That stinks. Maybe Eagletac should take the P20C2 reflector back to the drawing board. Malkoff and McGizmo were able to do it right with a small OP reflector. No reason Eagletac cant get it right either.

wingnut86 said:

....My P20C2 MKII with OP reflector does the same thing. ...

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I like several of the Eagletac lights, but will not buy one that has the donut effect in the hotspot. To say the least, I am no longer a fan of smooth reflectors with led lights. I have been burned by ugly beams more than ounce because of SMO reflectors. Like the others have said, a OP reflector should solve the problem. They should always include both OP and SMO reflectors with the lights so the customer can choose. Are you listening Eagletac?

Click to expand...

kyhunter1,

I would say I am in complete agreement with you on this one except my EagleTac T100C2 MKII with smooth reflector has one of the cleanest beam patterns I have seen...it kind of changed my perception of smooth reflectors! I realize that it is not an XP-G but I would not classify all smooth reflectors as entirely bad! Hopefully the reflector / XP-G issue can be resolved fairly quickly! EagleTac seems to listen to its customers feedback...lets hope this sees some attention. I think they build some of the best lights in the business. It would be a shame to see the new line of XP-G emitters do poorly in sales!

Saint_Dogbert said:

I suspect that it is a problem w/XP-G in these sizes of smooth reflectors, such as the Quark Turbo and the Eagletac mentioned here. Larger lights or lights with less throwy beams don't seem to have this problem.

Click to expand...

I think it's just a lack of care and attention with reflector design. I have managed to rid my Quark turbos of the hole in the centre just by shimming the reflector further out from the emitter (each one needed a different thickness shim). There was a price to pay in the uniformity of the beam though, it's not such a perfectly round fireball now, the edges of the spot blend out to the spill a bit now (though perhaps that's better anyway).

I'm sure a differently designed reflector could make a non holy hotspot.

The P100 series had the same dark spot problems in some samples, the interesting thing is, I've owned 2 P100A2's, one had a slightly off center LED, but no dark spot, the other seems centered and has a quite noticeable dark spot. Maybe someone should start a similar poll to the P100 off center led/dark spot poll?

My P20C2 R2 had the same problem with the smooth reflector so I put in a OP and it took the donut out. My P20 MKII SMO reflector has just a tad bit of a dimmer center and to me its really not noticeable outdoors. I do have to agree with the question why Eagletac would release such a reflector with any kind of dim area in the hotspot on their flagship models.

Well, crap... It now appears that the problem is not with my light. i guess this one's probably going back. Too bad, I love the UI...

gamblore said:

Well, crap... It now appears that the problem is not with my light. i guess this one's probably going back. Too bad, I love the UI...

Click to expand...

Before you send it back, have you used it in practical situations instead of comparing beams on a wall?
:candle:
When I first received my Quark R5 I did the same thing, compared the beam to other lights and noticed a slight green tint and "sloppy" hotspot. However, in practical use the Quark is much better than any other light in the house because it has brighter spill, good throw with a larger hotspot. That "sloppy" hotspot is simply larger and less defined, but it lights up the side of a house rather than just a window on the house at the same distance using a MagLED 3D. As for the green tint, it's not really noticeable when used in normal situations (in fact it's closer to white than the other lights which tend to be either cool/blue or warm/yellow). I really only notice it when comparing it to other beams on a white wall. When using it in the shed, garage, backyard, etc., the beam/spill is white and bright and lights up the area nicely.
:twothumbs
I know you want perfection (me too), but when EagleTac did the upgrade, they probably did it just like 4Sevens did - they simply started using the new emitters in the production line without making significant changes to the reflector or lense. With my Quark, the R5 beam is about as good as I could expect from any light, thanks in part to the OP reflector that produces a nice spill without artifacts. EagleTac probably didn't do beam tests on a wall, but with feedback they will likely update the reflector to improve the beam.

@bfksc

I've used it outdoors, and my main problem is "false moving" shadows. Or, as I call it, the dim ring that looks like a monster might be moving around in the bushes.